Appeals Court Reinstates Tom Brady’s 4-Game ‘Deflategate’ Suspension

Looks like New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady may actually have to serve that four-game "deflategate" suspension Commissioner Roger Goodell imposed prior to last season after all. A federal appeals court in New York has ruled in favor of the NFL, overturning Judge Richard Berman’s decision in 2015 which itself had overturned Goodell's original punishment.

Goodell and the NFL had ruled that Brady was involved in the so-called "deflategate" scandal leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII, in which the footballs used by the Patriots on offense were found to be intentionally deflated to levels below league regulations, making them easier to throw and catch. Goodell suspended Brady for four games to start the 2014-15 season, but Brady appealed the sentence in federal court and won. The NFL then appealed that decision, which was just overturned Monday morning by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Second Court of Appeals.

The decision reads: "We hold that the Commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness."

Brady and his attorneys at the NFL Players Association now have the option of appealing this decision the full court or even possibly the Supreme Court, but they have not declared their intentions as of yet.